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If travelling to interesting locales inspires Gene Greer-Kondusky to create, then his music is about to undergo a sharp shift to the north.
Greer-Kondusky, a loop-based acoustic-electronic musician who performs under the name Kites Overhead, is getting ready to move north of 60 to teach math in northern Quebec.
And while it might seem like an unlikely job for the innovative musician, who’s been spending his days poring over literature while pursuing his Masters in English, he says a change in scenery – and the new day job – might spark his creativity.
“There is a sublime beauty in the North with the barrenness and snow and Northern lights. I think that isolation will definitely inspire me,” Greer-Kondusky says.
“My music has always kind of been a product of my travelling.”
After spending much of his youth in punk and alt-rock bands, he decided to move to Japan.
It was there that Greer-Kondusky discovered his affinity for performing solo, but not in the traditional “guy with an acoustic guitar” format.
Instead he employed the assistance of a loop machine and effects pedal to accompany the live guitar and vocals.
He recorded and performed for a time under the name The Noble Son, until he discovered an American neo-Nazi with the same name.
But while switching names has made for some logistical snags, he says he was also feeling ready for a change.
“I was getting bored with the old name anyway. My older recordings were more relaxed and ambient. Slow,” he says with a laugh.
“My newer songs have evolved, and are a bit more upbeat, which I think goes along with the name.”
The music is at times sparse with little or no vocals, leaving room for Greer-Kondusky’s experimentation to flourish.
Other songs are layered and complex, requiring an attentive ear.
No matter whether he is performing old or fresh creations, Greer-Kondusky says his goal on stage is always to give people something a little unexpected.
“When I perform I really want to captivate people. Music should be treated like any other art, but I am not big into nostalgia. I like the idea of sounds evolving and changing. I’ve nothing against radio music, but I also want to create something a little different.”
- Metro News (Ottawa) 27 June 2008
Discography
2009 (Upcoming) - You are a secret, and you must never tell it. (Home Is Not Here)
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Bio
Keep moving: this might as well be a mantra for Gene Greer-Kondusky, the man behind electro-acoustic indie-folk creation Kites Overhead. After spending three years bringing his acoustic looping act The Noble Son to audiences in North America, Europe, and Japan, the half-American, half-Canadian Greer-Kondusky returned to Ottawa, Canada in 2007 to rededicate himself to his other love: literature.
Although Gene enjoyed modest success as The Noble Son, including airplay for his only release, The EP, in such far-flung places as Australia, Belarus and Italy, his return to Canada prompted a shift in musical endeavour. While studying towards a Master’s degree in English Literature in Canada’s capital city, Gene’s creative energies shifted away from the shoegaze-inspired drone of The EP and toward more traditional songwriting structures. While Gene retains his earlier spirit of experimentation, he has comfortably settled into a new home within the more mature corners of the pop genre. Less Sunny Day Real Estate and Slowdive, and more Stars and Death Cab for Cutie (with a dash of Leonard Cohen and Billy Bragg thrown in for good measure).
Although he hasn’t completely abandoned his looping station, Gene has augmented his sound by introducing synthesizers and computer programming into his sonic palate. Seeing this as a sea change of sorts, Gene cast off his old moniker, and in the winter of 2008, began performing under the alias Kites Overhead. The response to the new direction was unanimously positive: after only three weeks in his new incarnation, Gene received a full-length treatment in the Citizen, and played to a near-capacity crowd at the Avant-Garde in Ottawa. More positive media coverage followed in Metro in the spring, as well as another packed show at the renowned Café Nostalgica.
But before Gene’s momentum had built to a tidal wave, he was already gone. In August 2008, Gene left Ottawa for the barren tundras of the Canadian arctic. Gene currently calls a tiny settlement named Inukjuak home – located some 1500 kilometres north of Montréal, near the northern tip of Québec. There, he has been quietly perfecting the songs that have come to shape his first full-length album, and drawing inspiration from the sublime landscape and unique cultural heritage to create new ones as well.
In the summer of 2009, Kites Overhead will release its first album, titled "You are a secret, and you must never tell it." Recorded in bedrooms and basements in Japan, Turkey and Canada, You are a secret is the culmination of years of cultural exchange and misadventure, best intentions gone awry, and innumerable unanchored nights. The title is taken from postmodern poet John Ashbery’s long poem “The Skaters” – a testament to Gene’s enduring passion for literature, as well as for boundary-testing. Recorded and mixed by Gene (with many friends’ help along the way) and mastered by Harris Newman/Grey Market Mastering (Arcade Fire, Basia Bulat), the album is released by Home Is Not Here, and will be available on iTunes, through the Home Is Not Here website, and at your local independent music store.
Keep moving. In a way, the phrase can be its own inspiration.
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